Then he lowered his voice, which trembled.
"Mother," he said, "I have bad news for Hans Lange. Kaspar was among those who died, to-day, in the hospital in Jena. They brought him in after Hans had left them."
And so, behind the white horse of the Emperor, Death marched into Thuringia.
Poor Bettina!
Napoleon had robbed her of her father and mother, and the old Barbarossa still slept on in his cave, the ravens cawing and circling.
CHAPTER V
THE JOURNEY
The wounded soldier lay unconscious for many days in the Forest House. Hans nursed him carefully. He took care of Bettina, too, whom he refused to leave with Frau Schmelze, and Minna Schneiderwint came to milk the cows and do the cooking. Later they must find a new home, but the Herr Forester Leo had been glad, for the present, for Hans to keep on with Kaspar's duties.
Bettina spent much time by the sick officer. At first, she had been afraid of him lying there in a stupor, but presently she grew used to the quiet and liked to sit near his bed while her grandfather was in the forest, singing away to her doll and never minding the sick man. One day she was putting her dolly to sleep with a pretty song her godmother had taught her: